by Chris Hechtl
Doctor Chang eyed him for a long moment then nodded slowly. “Okay soo …”
“So, we're looking into it. It is my fifth option, one I wasn't willing to lay out just yet. I can't make any promises. But this is another problem; one we haven't addressed,” Jack said slowly. The others stared at him curiously. “A super soldier or Neo takes time to grow. Time to be designed, tested, reevaluated, redesigned if necessary, improved on, and then gestated in large lots. From there they would have to grow up in some sort of crèche system that best fits their mental patterns. Then we'd have to train them. All of that takes one thing we are lacking, time.”
“We have all the time in the world. Unfortunately, many of the people on the world don't,” Mayor Ellington said with a shrug. Ilia's face clouded a bit. She bit her lip, clearly upset by that reminder. “I'm sorry to be so cold about it, but we must get this right. Get it right from the ground up or it'll all fall apart like a house of cards later.”
Jack grunted. “Agreed. For the record I've been looking at the long view. I've made it a point in discussions on Mars that there are no quick fixes. I wish there were. There aren't.”
“Understood. Moving on or shall we take a break?”
Jack frowned then shrugged. “I think we can break for a bit. We all know of other meetings we'd like to sit in on. We can let this idea bubble around for a bit.”
“Agreed,” Mayor Ellington said. He looked to the others. “Are there any objections?”
“I'd like to go on record to state that creating a super soldier is anathema to what we are, where we stand. It would also create a separate class of beings that would seem elevated over mainstream mankind that would open up all sorts of social nastiness down the road,” Doctor Chang said. “It ignites thoughts of the Germans during WW2, and that is not what we need or want. I am against any such thing and will vote accordingly.”
“I too,” Ilia murmured. She glanced at Jack. Jack nodded.
“Then I think we have at least a basic consensus in this committee. We will pass our recommendations to the floor and focus on other endeavors,” the chairman said, tapping his hand gavel. “Meeting adjourned.”
<>V<>
Jack slipped into the audience an hour after the super soldier committee had broken up. The soldier committee was still wrangling details, trying to balance a voluntary force against conscription. He surveyed the room and then smiled ever so slightly. Isaac was at the center of a block of flag officers. He had his back to Jack of course, but he did glance over his shoulder to see Jack enter. He nodded then turned his attention to the rest of the committee.
“Once we get people on the ground on board, we'll have the soldiers we'll need,” Zang Ryu said. Zang was the CEO of Ryu manufacturing industries and a direct descendant of the founder. “Those with the training I mean. And those without, well, they can learn on the job I suppose.”
The general shook his head mentally at such wishful thinking. He was tempted to avoid it, but decided he had to be blunt and take the problem head on if they were going to keep from getting bit in the ass by expectations later down the line. “Sir, you have to understand that many volunteers who step forward will be in ill health. Not just physically from the radiation, poisons, disease, fatigue, injuries, and starvation, but mentally as well. Incidents of PTSD will be ugly and wide spread since many of the civilians will not have been trained to deal with a combat situation, and even the military personnel who can't cope with living in a battlefield will break.” He let them digest that observation for a moment before he went on. “Secondly, we don't know how many we will find and what sort of command structure they have worked out on their own. Third, we can't count on civilian militias to get the job done even if we support them.”
“Fourth, we don't know if any were compromised,” Isaac said.
“Do you honestly think someone will stab their own people in the back?” Senator Brakin asked.
“Senator, a parent will do just about anything to protect their child's life. If Skynet used that threat, anything is possible. They will cling to any thread of a possibility of getting their child out alive even knowing that it is impossible and that Skynet or whatever hostage taker will not keep their word.”
The senator grunted. After a long moment, he nodded.
“We can table that discussion for a later time then, General,” the senator said. Isaac graciously bowed his head for a moment. “I understand the concept of growing a super soldier race has been rejected. Understandable. But, that puts the pressure on us. We have to come up with an interim solution until another presents itself. So, with that in mind, and based on our latest intelligence, we have an intriguing proposal.”
Isaac listened politely as the senator discussed his proposal to fast tracking any humans who had gotten themselves changed into animals or other beings. Some had done it out of a fetish, others for fashion. A few had done it as jobs; after all, looking like an orc full time got them all sorts of gigs at cons and in movies.
He knew that in theory it was a good idea, if it was approached just right. On the ground their altered appearance would mask their appearance as camouflage. “The interesting thing is we can train those who have already been changed. I believe there are a few already in the soldier program?” Senator Brakin asked as he looked directly at Jack. Jack nodded. “Fine then, they can serve as a model for others to follow. We can even alter baseline humans as well. Think of the potential of disguising our troops. We can, of course, alter them back to human when the war is won.
Jack winced. They had no idea what that sort of intensely invasive surgery was like. Nor how much it changed a person, or how young they had to be to start the various procedures in order for them to be successful. He could see the civilians were jumping on the idea like it was a life preserver without thinking it through as usual.
He glanced at the military personnel. Some had a decidedly sour expression on their faces. Isaac had the podium so he had to respond.
General Murtough shook his head when the cries to get it started quieted down to hear his response. “It may or may not help.” That brought them up short.
“And why not if I may be so bold as to ask?” Senator Brakin asked. The good senator had been on a fact-finding tour with Ilia and another representative, exploring the space industries in order to form an opinion for a series of hearings that had been scheduled to come up. What it really meant was that he was going to get wined and dined by corporate lobbyists then go home with a larger war chest.
A pity it hadn't worked out that way, the general thought acidly in the privacy of his mind.
“The problem is if we send them down now, in dribs or drabs, the A.I. will eventually catch on and adapt. For something like that to work, we need to hit them all at once,” General Murtough said.
“People are dying down there. We need to do something now,” the Senator said tightly, eyes glittering.
“I know that. But we can't afford to go off half-cocked Senator. Trust me on this.”
The senator stared at him then his lips pursed. “I'll try. It is your area of expertise after all,” he said grudgingly.
Isaac nodded. He'd sparred with the good senator in appropriations hearings often enough to hear the truth from the man.
<>V<>
“It's so frustrating not getting anywhere. We're talking things to death,” Ilia shook her head as she took her shoes off and rubbed her feet.
Jack snorted. Aurelia tended to do the same thing. He never understood why women wore shoes that weren't comfortable. Fashion? Fashion only made sense on the red carpet. He wondered if she kicked her shoes off under the table during the committees. “Ah, thank you, James,” the representative said, taking a drink from one of her staffers. That was enough to wake Jack up. “Please tell me you are doing something, anything more than just talk, Jack,” Ilia said, resting her glass down on an end table after taking a sip. She laid back on the couch, crossed her legs and rested one arm on the back of the couch.
She lazily twirled her finger on the plush pho leather.
“We're making some progress but we've had setbacks,” Jack admitted. He explained Elliot's mission, then Charlie's follow-up and how badly the landings hand turned out. “I'm sorry, but North America is going to be a bitch to get into. A slugfest on the ground,” he admitted.
She grimaced and then nodded. After a moment she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees as she scrubbed at her tired face. “What else?” she finally asked. “I see Athena is here. I heard something about satellites?”
Jack nodded. “We brought fuel here plus parts to begin refitting Olympus as our staging ground. We've also brought some more troops, but we can't send them down without a place to go. The shuttles that have landed haven't come back up. Some have reportedly been destroyed on landing. Others have been crippled.”
She winced.
“The satellites you mentioned, there are two. One set is jammers to cut off Skynet's ability to spread itself outside the atmosphere. At least we hope so. We've had to leave some channels open in order to communicate with those on the ground.”
“Lovely. What about the lasers?”
Jack shook his head. “Lasers are only a good line of sight. And if there is a lot of cloud cover, which there is with nuclear winter, we sometimes can't punch a signal through in either direction.”
“Oh.”
“Besides, you have to know where to hit. We had to incorporate some serious self-destruct packages in that hardware too, in all of our electronics. We don't want it falling into the wrong hands.”
She slowly nodded. “What else?”
“Well, I mentioned the troops,” Jack frowned then shrugged. In for a penny, in for a pound. And they say confessions were good for the soul. “We've also brought along a couple of care packages. There are about a thousand tons of supplies being stockpiled for the landings, plus a couple of landing craft. I'm building more ships; the Liberty ships you know about.” She nodded. “But the care packages are from Sheila over at Radick Industries,” he said.
She quirked an eyebrow upwards.
“Terraformers,” he said. Her face blanked. “Radick created a process to filter out the soot and radiation in the cloud cover. It'll bind with the material and make it too heavy to stay aloft. It will fall as red hail or rain that will change color as it decays and breaks down.”
She scowled. “I'm not thrilled about that. I wish someone would have contacted us about it.”
“It's not a pollutant. It will get the crap out of the atmosphere to allow people to breathe easier.”
“But it will contaminate just about every waterway on the earth!” she said, throwing her hands up in the air as she got up and paced.
Jack frowned. “It's not … I'm not conversant on the processes involved. Sheila hid a lot of it as proprietary,” he admitted, grimacing. “I know it will change color over time as I mentioned a moment ago. Red is danger, orange, then yellow and so on until it is gone.” She continued to pace. “We can work on cleaning it up on the ground. Getting it out of the atmosphere, concentrated is the first step in dealing with it.”
“I still wish you would have run it past us. I hate that,” she said.
“Weren't you the one who just mentioned everyone was talking without doing?” Jack reminded her none too gently. She grimaced, turning a glare his way. He shook his head. “You can't have it both ways, Ilia. This is just baby steps.”
“Well, damn it,” she flopped down on the couch again and ran a frustrated hand through her hair, undoing it. She took the clips out, tossed them on the end table then shook her hair out. “Better,” she muttered. He smiled slightly at her antics. She took up her glass once more, took a sip, then another, and then sat back. “And even better,” she said slightly louder. That got him to smile.
“Our teams on the ground and the second set of satellites designed to recon the planet will tell us where it is safe to land. Once we have areas we can work from, we can plan accordingly. Currently we have five teams on the ground. Only one has a secure landing strip and hasn't made contact with any sort of major resistance.”
“So you think that is where we should land?” Ilia asked.
Jack grimaced. “It's not my call.” She nodded. “We'll have to see.” She nodded again, still eying him.
“Okay, so what about the rank structure? Any ideas?”
“Obviously the experts are the cadre. But some of my people as well as those in other organizations have years of experience as well. The experts think they know it all, which is a dangerous proposition. This is a new war. One unlike anything mankind has faced. We need to keep that in mind. We also need to get our people on board, all of them.”
“Okay.”
“Which means coming up with a proper rank structure I admit. One all sides will accept so they can become one happy family,” Jack said.
She eyed him and then shook her head in resignation. “Yeah, good luck with that,” she said in a tone of exasperation.
Jack grunted. “Yeah, it's what I was thinking too. But it has to be done.” He grimaced. “One way or another it will.”
“Agreed.”
While all the wrangling went on Island 3, Athena seeded Earth with the first layer of probes while satellites were deployed in orbit to map the surface and jam any radio or microwave transmissions. The recon satellites would give them the first true in-depth picture of the ground and where pockets of survivors might be. It would also give them some idea of where Skynet remained.
The probes that pierced the sky were small, each roughly the size of a basketball. Their outer sheathing burned off during reentry. Rotors slowed their descent before they impacted the ground or water.
Those that survived impact sent out a signal to the orbiting satellites, then probed the radio waves for digital signals. When they found something, it triggered a bot to cut off the signal briefly, then analyze the memory. If it was infected, the memory was scrubbed by the simple expedient of rebooting it.
Athena's bots carefully explored and found many small local networks that had survived. It seemed the overall internet had been shattered; the majority of it had been occupied by the virus. It spoke of many things to her, one being that the virus might not be as coordinated in its actions worldwide anymore. She logged it for the military personnel to explore in detail.
The military forces of the US, China, Brazil, Russia, and Korea had their own separate dedicated networks. Some were down; a few were sporadic. The majority that were up were compromised to various degrees, but she was surprised to find the American one almost completely clear of Skynet.
During her initial exploration, Athena was surprised to find a potentially clean small subnetwork in Brazil. When she probed it, she encountered an A.I. jealously guarding it. She recognized the signature of the A.I. right away, Puck.
“This is my place! Mine! Go find your own!” Puck said as he tried to protect his on small network. “Wait, you, how did you get in here?” Puck demanded.
Athena checked out the area then cross-referenced it with the recon data. According to what she found, Puck had staked out a small claim in the national preserve computer systems in Brazil. He had cut off all long-range communications, but her probe had landed within his perimeter and had hacked an unused but apparently jealously guarded Wi-Fi node.
Apparently there were some people who were aware that their network had yet to be compromised. They were even doing their best to work with the A.I. to keep it that way while also dealing with the thousands of refugees who had poured into the park system.
“Will wonders never cease? You helping against a chaotic being? Gee the irony,” she wondered if her emotional emulations were set too high. She was definitely acting like she was maliciously enjoying the experience she was seeing.
“Oh, shut up and help me!” Puck said desperately. She could feel him try to force open the tiny hole she had created in the communications jamming to see the ground. She fended him off ea
sily however.
“Please!” he said, pushing and battering at her firewall.
“I don't know; I'm kind of enjoying watching you squirm,” Athena's bot answered.
“Sadist!”
“Hmm, I seem to be picking up all sorts of bad habits from humans,” Athena stated, severing the circuit. Now she knew where Puck was and that he was free of corruption. Now she needed to track down the other A.I. and see what they were up to.
She wasn't too confident they were on her side, but she had to find out one way or another. The battle lines were beginning to be clearly drawn.
Chapter 23
Wendy, Roman, Trevor, and many of the other CEOs arrived on a Pavilion liner when the meetings started to fall further and further behind schedule. Results were expected and as usual people were wrangling over little things, nitpicking over language instead of focusing on the broad picture and getting shit done. Only a few companies like Lagroose was producing anything for the war effort while the talks went on. Many small industrial plants were idle having no one to pay for their services.
Jack hoped their arrival would kick-start things back in gear. Instead he watched as more meetings were held, some behind closed door to him. He was amused and annoyed by such antics.
<>V<>
The surviving members of the Earth military organizations had been hammered from within and without during the first moments of the engagement and ever since then. Many countries had no remaining existing chain of command. Those that had some semblance of order and had held together despite the odds had done so barely. According to the reports that General Murtough had assembled, they could protect their families and those around them, but do little more outside their perimeters. They were locked out of their bases, existing on what hardware they had from the civilian market or from what they could capture or scrounge.
There were few responses in North America. Those they knew about were most likely hiding underground in order to avoid the prying eyes of UAVs. A bunker buster had been used on at least two large groups of military personnel.
